Atlanta Braves Falling Into Rut On Road Trip

The Atlanta Braves continued to stall in Toronto in the opening game. The Blue Jays took the first game of the quick two-game series from the Braves in a low scoring game. After the highs of a long winning streak, the Braves have fallen into a small rut.

To kick off the week-long road trip that would take the Braves through some of the worse teams in baseball, Colorado, Toronto, and Chicago, it looked like the Braves would be padding their win total and NL East lead. After the sweep of the Mets to start the road trip, the prospects of a successful road trip looked eminent. Unfortunately, the Braves have come back to Earth after looking unbeatable a week ago. The comeback to reality was to be expected, every team in baseball loses eventually. The most concerning thing is the way this Braves team has looked the last couple of games.

The Braves offense has stalled. In the last two games, the Braves have scored two runs against teams that are out of the playoff race and who have big negatives in the run differential. It’s not time to panic, it’s only been two games, but the concern is there for the Braves offense. Their offensive leader, Ronald Acuna Jr., has gone 3-22 since the Braves started their road trip. Other than one game in New York, the Braves have scored two or fewer runs in their last five games.

Clearly, the Braves have fallen into a rut. With the Washington Nationals refusing to die in the NL East race, the pressure to be perfect every night is getting harder and harder. The eight-game winning streak was a great thing, but in that time the Braves didn’t gain much of a lead. The Nationals won 6 out of their 7 games during the Braves winning streak. Luckily, the Nationals dropped their opening game to the awful Baltimore Orioles so the NL East leas still sit at 5.5 games, even after the two losses in a row for Atlanta.

There is no need to panic, or even be concerned at the moment. It’s troubling the Braves have dropped two games to much lesser opponents, Colorado and Toronto, after finding ways to beat two of the better teams in the NL, Los Angles and New York. The Braves are down, but I don’t expect them to stay that way for very long. With another crack at the Blue Jays tonight, the Braves offense could roar back to life. I think that’s more likely than the Braves staying in this current offensive hiatus. The Braves will get back to their winning ways sooner rather than later.